LEEDS RHINOS sporting director Ian Blease has addressed rumours that the West Yorkshire club has appointed Brad Arthur on a short-term coaching deal until the end of the 2024 Super League season.
Over the weekend, the news broke that Arthur would take charge of the Rhinos before heading back to Australia to coach the new NRL franchise Perth Bears next season.
However, Blease, who has also been heavily linked with appointing Salford Red Devils boss Paul Rowley, fronted up to the media following Leeds’ 17-16 Golden Point win over London Broncos on Saturday afternoon.
Sitting alongside interim coach Chev Walker, Blease explained the current process behind appointing a new head coach.
“The purpose why I’m here is for a bit of clarity on that,” Blease said following the game.
“I’ve had three phases in my mind: phase one was meeting, interviewing and speaking to the candidates that had applied which went pretty well over the last week or so.
“Stage two is now firming up some options that we can look at, but there’s nothing that has officially been done yet so that will carry on into next week now.
“Obviously it’s a really important decision for us as a club and we want to make sure we get that right, so there’s still things we need to discuss and do.”
During Arthur’s in charge of Parramatta, the 50-year-old had earned a 52 win percentage, steering the Eels to 135 wins out of 258 and 123 losses with no draws.
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